THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with TALKING HEADS! To maintain a low profile, I won't mention the title of this set, which should be known to some of you. I saw this tour and it remains one of the more impressive shows I have seen. This selection includes "Psycho Killer," "Heaven," "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel," "Found A Job," "Slippery People," "Burning Down The House," "Life During Wartime," "Making Flippy Floppy," "Swamp," "What A Day That Was," "This Must be the Place (Naïve Melody)," "Once In A Lifetime," "Genius Of Love" (as Tom Tom Club), "Girlfriend Is Better," Pate staple "Take Me To The River" and "Cross-eyed and Painless." 

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

TWIN SHADOW stops by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

MATTHEW DEAR stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

SUGAR: Live at Cat's Cradle, Nov. 19, 1994.

COUSTEAU: "The Last Good Day of the Year." Or close to it.

PETE TOWNSHEND talks to The Guardian and reads an excerpt from his autobiography.

BETH ORTON talks to All Things Considered about how songwriting is like maple syrup, and more.

THE TOP 5 BANDS That Should Be Way Bigger Than They Are is up for discussion at All Songs Considered.

BILL DEES, songwriter whose notable hits included Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "It's Over," died in Arkansas last week at age 73.

CUTOUT BIN: From Patterson Hood to Toto, from Jimi Hendix to the Jesus & Mary Chain, from Led Zeppelin to This Mortal Coil, plus the Only Ones, Specials, Knack, Urge Overkill, Faces and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are: Wreck-It Ralph, which is currently scoring 83 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; The Man with the Iron Fists, which is scoring 75 percent in early reviews; and Flight, scoring 82 percent.

CHARLIE SHEEN is back to his old ways, snorting cocaine and smoking crack on a daily basis, according to RadarOnline.

GENE HACKMAN had given clothes, money and rides to a homeless man whom Hackman slapped this week after the man became aggressive toward the Oscar-winning actor and his wife.

CHRIS BROWN decided to be a Taliban fighter for Halloween. Classy.

ASHTON KUTCHER & DEMI MOORE have taken no steps to end their marriage... legally.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH (Sherlock) will star in a Brian Epstein biopic.

SYRIA: Secretary of State Clinton called for reorganization of the Syrian opposition to better reflect those fighting in the conflict, dismissing the Syrian National Council as remote and warning that extremist groups were trying to hijack the revolution.

IRAN: The Syrian revolution has significantly affected Iran's image in the Arab world and clearly had a negative impact on Arab perception of Iranian policies in the region.

EGYPT: Minorities Fear End of Secularism.

SLEEPY KITTY: The supporting cast makes this clip. (Thx, Zoey.)

500 CATS rescued from death in Chinese restaurants.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Halloween edition.

THOUSANDS OF NYC RATS may have drowned in superstorm Sandy.